By Frank Kamuntu

DFCU is seen as a staggering bank that may soon collapse due to various scandals following its poor perfomance in revenue generation plus the recent London Court ruling that will see Crane Bank proprietor Sudhir Ruparelia and other stakeholders bag over sh795b.

The UK Court of Appeal on Wednesday ruled that the Crane Bank-DFCU dispute over assets can be tried in the UK.

The UK High Court had previously dismissed the Crane Bank Limited (CBL) claim on grounds that it was based on actions exercised by Bank of Uganda and therefore considered acts of the State of Uganda. The Court of Appeal has now ruled that some of the acts are commercial in nature and can be tried by a court in England.

CBL filed a claim in the English courts in December 2020 challenging the transaction in relation to the sale of some of the assets and assumption of some of the liabilities of CBL to dfcu Bank Limited (dfcu) by Bank of Uganda. Bank of Uganda transferred the assets of Crane Bank to DFCU Bank in a 2017 take over.

To counter this, dfcu filed an application challenging the jurisdiction of the English courts to hear the claim on grounds that the actions of Bank of Uganda (BOU) were an act of the State of Uganda exercised in pursuit of the constitutional and statutory powers of BOU, in respect of which an English court should not inquire into. The English High Court agreed, and ruled that the English courts did not have authority to hear the claim.

Crane Bank Limited then went to the UK Court of Appeal, which appeal was heard on 3 – 5 April 2023.

The Court of Appeal delivered judgment on Wednesday and held that, while dfcu Bank, dfcu Limited and others who challenged jurisdiction of the UK Courts to try this matter may be right that the English Court does not have authority to consider the claim, however as some of BOU’s acts may be of a commercial nature and/or there may be public policy reasons why the English Court should decide the claim, this issue should not be decided at a preliminary stage through a jurisdiction challenge but should instead be determined through a trial.

Court issues orders against DFCU that will reward Sudhir billions;

”It Is Ordered That:

1. The Claimants’ appeal is allowed.

2. Paragraphs 1-4 of the Pelling Order are set aside.

3. The applications made by the First and Second Defendants and the Third to Fifth Defendants recited above are dismissed.

4. The First to Fifth Defendants shall pay 75% of the Claimants’ costs of the appeal and of the costs below, such costs to be to subject to detailed
assessment if not agreed.

5. The First to Fifth Defendants shall pay the Claimants the sum of £700,000 on account of the costs at paragraph 4 above within 14 days.

6. The sums paid to the First to Fifth Defendants in accordance with paragraph 4 of the Pelling Order (as amended by the Second Pelling Order) shall be
repaid to the Claimants within 14 days, plus interest at a rate of 4.5% per annum from 27 October 2022 up to and including the date of repayment. This order was drawn by Ann Marie Smith (Associate) to whom all enquiries regarding this order should be made. When communicating with the Court please address correspondence to The Associate, Civil Appeals Office, Room E307, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL (DX 44456 Strand) and quote the Court of Appeal reference number. The Associate’s telephone number is 0207 947 7183 and 0207 947 7856.

7. The First to Fifth Defendants must file and serve acknowledgements of service within:
(a) Seven days after the date on which the time limit expires for the First to Fifth Defendants to apply to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal this Order, if such application has not been made in that time;
(b) Seven days after the refusal by the Supreme Court of permission for the First to Fifth Defendants to appeal this Order, if an application for such permission has been made and refused; or

(c) Seven days after the determination by the Supreme Court of the First to Fifth Defendants’ appeal of this Order, if such an appeal is unsuccessful, and if the First to Fifth Defendants have brought such an appeal and been granted permission by the Supreme Court to do so.

8. The First to Fifth Defendants must file Defences within 14 days of service of their acknowledgements of service.

9. The applications of the First and Second Defendants and of the Third to Fifth Defendants for permission to appeal are refused.